As can be seen both in literature and in life, Humans naturally gravitate towards lies that are convenient to whatever narrative they want to believe. Contemporarily, Facebook has faced accusations of creating “information bubbles” which surround people with content that reinforces their political opinions. These “information bubbles” facilitated the proliferation of fake news and strongly influenced the outcome of the 2016 election. Shakespeare’s Othello uses characters to illustrate the timeless human inclination towards choosing convenience and comfort over truth and facts. Iago, Othello and Roderigo’s weaknesses represent the human proclivity of believing any story that fits their narrative. The phenomenon of selective truths causes Iago
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Iago uses this to convince Othello of Desdemona’s faithlessness. Iago creates a story that agrees with Othello's predisposition towards jealousy. He manipulates the moore by utilizing Othello’s fear of losing Desdemona to trigger the jealous part of his mind. Iago cobbles together just enough seeds of doubt for jealousy to take over the rational part of Othello’s brain. By laying sneaky seeds of doubt, Othello’s bias towards jealousy vastly expands and pushes away any thoughts of reasonable doubt. Iago snidely …show more content…
By destroying Othello’s faith in his wife with a thousand cuts rather than with a deadly blow, Iago uses the human tendency to believe truths aligned with a particular personality and Othello’s specific vulnerabilities. Together, these create a perfect cocktail that Othello can not resist. Ultimately this toxic cocktail leads Othello to tragically murder his wife under entirely false pretenses. Roderigo’s continued faith in Iago shows that humans will unconditionally believe any rationalization to justify certain beliefs that individuals want to believe. Iago convinces Roderigo to continue courting Desdemona, despite repeatedly being told the opposite. As Rodrigo and Iago approach Brabantio to alert him of Othello’s marriage to Desdemona, Brabantio’s immediate frustration with Roderigo clearly demonstrates that he has no chance to court Desdemona. Roderigo bitterly remarks:
The worser welcome:
I have charged thee not to haunt about my doors:
In honest plainness thou hast heard me say
My daughter is not for thee; and now, in madness,
Being full of supper and distempering draughts,
Upon malicious bravery, dost thou come
To start my quiet.
Iago uses this to convince Othello of Desdemona’s faithlessness. Iago creates a story that agrees with Othello's predisposition towards jealousy. He manipulates the moore by utilizing Othello’s fear of losing Desdemona to trigger the jealous part of his mind. Iago cobbles together just enough seeds of doubt for jealousy to take over the rational part of Othello’s brain. By laying sneaky seeds of doubt, Othello’s bias towards jealousy vastly expands and pushes away any thoughts of reasonable doubt. Iago snidely …show more content…
By destroying Othello’s faith in his wife with a thousand cuts rather than with a deadly blow, Iago uses the human tendency to believe truths aligned with a particular personality and Othello’s specific vulnerabilities. Together, these create a perfect cocktail that Othello can not resist. Ultimately this toxic cocktail leads Othello to tragically murder his wife under entirely false pretenses. Roderigo’s continued faith in Iago shows that humans will unconditionally believe any rationalization to justify certain beliefs that individuals want to believe. Iago convinces Roderigo to continue courting Desdemona, despite repeatedly being told the opposite. As Rodrigo and Iago approach Brabantio to alert him of Othello’s marriage to Desdemona, Brabantio’s immediate frustration with Roderigo clearly demonstrates that he has no chance to court Desdemona. Roderigo bitterly remarks:
The worser welcome:
I have charged thee not to haunt about my doors:
In honest plainness thou hast heard me say
My daughter is not for thee; and now, in madness,
Being full of supper and distempering draughts,
Upon malicious bravery, dost thou come
To start my quiet.